Equity and Disparity in the Northern and Southern countries

Environmental ethics are concerned with, who owns resources and how they are distributed. This can be
looked upon at different levels. At the global level, it deals with the great North-South divide between
the rich industrialized nations of North America and Europe, as against the needs of developing
countries of the South such as in South and Southeast Asia and South America.

People living in economically advanced nations use greater amounts of resources and energy per
individual and also waste more resources. This is at the cost of poor people who are resource-
dependent and live in developing nations.

Classifying countries

In the 1980s, the Brandt Line was developed as a way of showing the how the world was geographically
split into relatively richer and poorer nations.

According to this model:

- Richer countries are almost all located in the Northern Hemisphere, with the exception of
Australia and New Zealand.
- Poorer countries are mostly located in tropical regions and in the Southern Hemisphere.
What do we mean when we talk about the global north and south?

- The global north includes the richest countries that have the most up to date technology and
resources.

Benefits of latest technology and resources

 Improve the accuracy of work to a level that would be difficult for human staff to achieve on
their own
 allows for the more efficient production of more and better goods and services
 More products and trades that made them wealthier

-The global south countries that usually have fewer resources and money, so therefore their citizens are
more likely to suffer from poverty.

 Without sufficient money, people may go into debt to cover basic needs, thereby becoming
more dependent on others and at risk of exploitation and greater economic insecurity.
 Overpopulated and not employed
 Mining, deforestation, pollution, and contamination of resources result from having less
resources